Moscow, July 20 — Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the Kremlin with Ali Larijani, senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as regional tensions continue to escalate.
According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Larijani delivered Tehran’s assessment of the worsening situation in the Middle East, including concerns over the Iranian nuclear program. The meeting, which took place behind closed doors, comes amid a fragile ceasefire following a dramatic military flare-up between Iran, Israel, and the United States.
The conflict reignited on June 13, when Israel launched a military operation against targets in Iran. Tehran responded less than 24 hours later with missile strikes of its own. On June 22, the U.S. entered the conflict with strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities. The following evening, Iran retaliated by firing missiles at Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar — the largest U.S. military installation in the region.
A ceasefire was announced on June 24 by President Donald Trump, who said both Iran and Israel had agreed to halt hostilities. However, despite the truce, the region remains deeply unstable, with mistrust on all sides and fears of renewed violence looming.
Larijani’s visit underscores Iran’s efforts to strengthen ties with Moscow as it faces increasing Western pressure, particularly in light of faltering nuclear negotiations. While no details of the meeting were made public, the high-level dialogue signals closer coordination between Russia and Iran at a time of shifting power dynamics in the region.
The Kremlin has not commented on whether Putin conveyed any messages to Washington or Jerusalem, but the timing of the talks reflects Moscow’s ongoing interest in maintaining leverage in the Middle East — especially as the U.S. juggles multiple foreign policy crises, from Ukraine to Syria.
